Rising Tide all about getting organized getting involved
by Justin Ellis, Feb 21, 2005Because there's more to life than bagging groceries, busing tables or delivering pizzas.
Those are some of the reasons why A Rising Tide, a leadership training institute for young people, was formed last year.
The program is specifically geared toward people 16 to 35 years old. It is a way of kick-starting community involvement, be it running for office, managing a campaign, or becoming a better volunteer.
A Rising Tide wants to reach out to all young people who have that itch to give back to Maine, but just don't know how.
"I think many young people around the state don't know how to get involved or how to run an effective campaign," said Corey Hascall, director of A Rising Tide.
"If we have something we can share we should do it and bring more young people into the process."
"We," in this case, are people already involved in, or inspired by, political and community action.
Rising Tide is holding a workshop beginning Friday at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. Close to 20 young people from around the state will get together to hear from some of the activists who have been on the frontlines of recent campaigns. They've been holding the workshops on a quarterly basis, always in three-day sessions at no charge.
If you're interested in signing up for this session it's too late; the deadline already passed.
The list of players includes Dennis Bailey, president of Savvy Inc., who has worked on the Casinos NO! campaign; Roy Lenardson, former campaign manager for Peter Cianchette's GOP bid for governor; and State Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland.
Strimling, who was re-elected in November, was one of the reasons Rising Tide got off the ground.
Hascall counts Strimling as a mentor; he pushed her into volunteering on campaigns, and now she does it full-time.
Hascall said one of the best aspects of the training is that it brings together people who might not always hang around each other. Democrats, Republicans, Greens, current legislators, former legislators, young and old.
Liz McMahon works as a stage manager locally, but she helped organize for John Kerry, when the Democratic senator made his presidential bid. She attended a training workshop last year.
She said one of the best aspects of the program is that it gives everyone a chance to swap e-mails and numbers.
"The most important thing in getting involved is who you know. It's all about networking," she said.
Over the course of the weekend the group of future candidates and campaign chiefs will get a practical look at all aspects of organizing, running successful campaigns and winning races.
They will get training in issues research, electoral targeting, navigating polls, managing volunteers and dealing with the media.
What makes this different is the hands-on simulations during the weekend. Everyone will be able to their hand at holding a press conference, creating a campaign ad and organizing the resources to win.
But the work doesn't end at graduation, Hascall said. To be eligible for the free training, participants must pledge to get involved in at least one campaign, nonprofit organization or volunteer group for at least eight weeks.
"There's not a lot of expectation given to this generation," said Jason Toothaker, 22, a member of Portland's School Committee. "But when we do (get involved), we bring a certain amount of zeal and positivity to it that is missing in a lot of things like local politics."
Toothaker's experience is all very real after running for election last November. It wasn't easy, he admits. There were long hours of going door-to-door, leafing through voter lists and trying to talk to just one more voter.
While there still are some who see government and decision-making as a distant, detached process, little by little more young people are finding their way onto committees and taking a shot at political races.
Toothaker thinks Portland is a very accessible city for getting involved. He also said the "generation gap" may just be a perceived barrier for getting into politics.
"The reception I had from the voters, doing a lot of grass-roots campaigning and going door-to-door, they were very open and not afraid of my age, like it was a negative for experience or something like that," he said.
"With youth comes a certain honesty and ability to look at the issues in a way that . . . maybe has a freshness to things," he said.
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
